The present invention relates to a display apparatus (also called a work station) used in office automation systems and automatic design support systems (apparatus), and more particularly to a display apparatus having a multi-window and multi-view-port function. A multi-window and multi-view-port function (hereinafter abbreviated as a multi-window function) is a function to allow desired document (inclusive of graph) editing and the like by designating a command on a window or view-port while a plurality of application programs share a single display screen.
Conventional apparatus in the related art are known as disclosed, e.g., in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publications JP-A-60-205492 and JP-A-57-125989. Disclosed in the Publications is a method of discriminating among a plurality of displayed windows.
The publication JP-A-60-205492 teaches that an operator can distinguish between a current window and non-current window by using a different brightness therebetween, the current window being operated upon while the non-current window is not operated upon. The Publication JP-A-57-125989 teaches that windows can be discriminated by displaying one window superposed on another on black background. None of the Publications takes into consideration the configuration of window at all, and suggests any problems associated with the configuration.
The above-described prior art does not take into consideration the configuration of window. Therefore, if a plurality of rectangular windows are displayed in an overlapped manner, the right angle corners of the windows are disposed near to each other. Therefore, operators pay attention to the corners which are displayed in a stiff manner and emphasized unnecessarily.